GALVESTON - Houstonians accustomed to free parking on the Galveston Seawall will soon be paying for the privilege.

No parking meters will be installed under a plan Galveston hopes to have in place before spring tourist season begins in March.

Instead, daily fees of $8 and annual fees of $25 will be purchased on the Internet, with smart phone apps, with a phone call or from Seawall merchants who agree to dispense parking passes. The vendor, yet to be chosen, will make 25 cents on each transaction.

Five civilians and four police officers will check license plates to find violators trying to avoid parking fees. They will use scanners that check license plates and match them with a state database that will instantly identify scofflaws. The scanners also will identify cars sought through amber or silver alerts as well as outstanding warrants, unpaid tickets and other violations.

Parking between 69th and 81st streets where there is scant beach will remain free. Parking fees will apply from 6th to 69th streets and from 81st to 103rd streets.

After years of controversy over Seawall parking, city voters approved a measure last year allowing parking revenues to be used for Seawall amenities, such as bathrooms. Proponents envisioned the money being used for parking garages, showers and landscaping.

Assistant City Manager Brian Maxwell told the City Council that the fees would bring in between $650,000 and $700,000 per year over the next five years.

Police Chief Henry Porretto said tourism increases law enforcement costs and the parking fees will allow tourists to pay their share by financing the hiring of four officers. After Hurricane Ike struck in 2008, the police force was cut from 159 officers to 129. The Seawall officers and several other new positions will bring the number to 139.

"I'm envisioning a visitor not only feeling safe but knowing they are safe," Porretto said.

He said the system also will be used to make sure tourists don't use parking reserved for neighborhoods near the Seawall.

As he parked his pickup Friday on the Seawall near 59th Street, Trevor Whalen, 34, of the Woodlands said the fees were reasonable if they were used to improve the beach. Under that condition, "I'm all for it," he said.

Philipp Wanner, 33, vacationing from Switzerland, said the daily fee would have discouraged him and his wife, Lindsay, 26, from stopping on the beach for a short picnic.

Toting a bag of picnic supplies, he said, "We would not stop because if we had to pay $8 we probably would have just gone on." He said he would have willingly paid $1 per hour for their short stop.

A previous plan envisioned the entire parking operation being overseen by a contractor who would install parking meters along the Seawall. But the Texas General Land Office rejected the plan because nearly all the money went to the contractor, leaving little for the promised beach enhancements.

The Land Office signed off on the latest plan, but that hasn't silenced critics who have opposed Seawall parking since at least 2004.

Greg Roof, a Galveston resident who teaches government at Alvin College, led opposition to a previous effort nearly a decade ago to impose Seawall parking fees. He doesn't like this plan, either.

"The parking plan they have come up with will not generate revenue for the city and will drive tourists into the neighborhoods," Roof said.

He said the license plate scans are an attempt to generate revenue through tickets and will alienate tourists.